1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multilayer ceramic electronic component, a series of electronic components stored in a tape, and a method of manufacturing a multilayer ceramic electronic component.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the related art, a multilayer ceramic electronic component that includes first inner electrodes and second inner electrodes that are alternately disposed in a thickness direction has been used in various devices. In such a multilayer ceramic electronic component, the first and second inner electrodes are not disposed across the entire multilayer ceramic electronic component. Thus, there is a difference in thickness between a portion in which the first and second inner electrodes are disposed and the other portions. A protruding portion is generally formed on one main surface of the multilayer ceramic electronic component due to the difference in thickness (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 9-82558).
When a multilayer ceramic electronic component is mounted on a mounting substrate, the multilayer ceramic electronic component may sometimes become damaged. In particular, in the case where a protruding portion is present on a main surface of a multilayer ceramic electronic component, when the multilayer ceramic electronic component is mounted on a mounting substrate in such a manner that the main surface of the multilayer ceramic electronic component on which the protruding portion is present and the mounting substrate face each other, a stress is concentrated at an interface between outer electrodes and a main body of the multilayer ceramic electronic component while the protruding portion serves as a fulcrum, and as a result, the probability of the main body of the multilayer ceramic electronic component becoming damaged increases.